2011 points event 1, Sanford

RobLupella · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:50 pm

MarcusMcRae wrote:

JamesShort wrote:

7. Music playing on the speakers around the bus/grid and the pits is great (and you still get to hear Bernie's vette over it as well

).

I really hated the music. Just noise to add to the noise. If I want to hear music, I'll put on my headphones. It was really irritating having to hear that in the pits.

Thanks to everyone for a great day. It was long but still fun.

I agree with this. We were parked by the speaker. If I spent more time in the pits I would have kilt it. :thumbsdown:

RobLupella · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:53 pm

JamesMilko wrote:

We need to get the cap back in place. I'm not terribly interested in spending over 12 hours driving to/from/at autocross. I can only socialize so much in one day. I don't think 20s overlap is realistic, from events I've run start at we've generally hovered around 30s. I appreciate all the time everyone puts in on these long days but I don't think we should be demanding it from our officers/ECs or asking it from the membership.

I still think the best autocross I've ever done was the last one at Sanford last year. ~80 people 5 competition runs, 2 or 3 fun runs and we were on the way home around 3-4pm. A lot of this had to do with it was a down the taxiway up the runway Sanford course with no forced overlap other than time to shag cones/safety factor.

I agree with Marcus on the music, you're never going to make everyone happy with what you play.

I don't think we should overreact and institute the cap yet. We may need to think about it if this type of attendance continues or at venues where we KNOW it will happen but lets not do that just yet. Maybe plan for 25-20 second overlaps instead.

I want to thank all the novices for coming out. You all did great :thumbsup:

and now you need to come back for the novice school next month. Post coming shortly.

I enjoyed the course the new wheel/tire combination was great and if I didn't have to run in the dark and could see the course I probably would not have hit the 2 cones (must of been barely) and coned away FTD for real cars :stick:

Liz Cordara · **Joined:** Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:44 am **Posts:** 17

I'm glad it seems most people enjoyed the event

It was my first official Autocross at the Sanford site and I had a lot of fun even though we were there for such a long time. I'm just glad it wasn't one of those 100+ degree days in the middle of the summer. Clearly there were lessons learned and we can hopefully improve next time. I'm also excited that there were some people in STU with me; I hope they continue throughout the season! Thanks to everyone who made this event happen (especially Kevin, Ray, Les, James, Brice and Mary)

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:08 pm

Just wondering, does anyone know all the people who were taking pictures? I saw at least 3 people out there with half decent DSLRs with some nice glass (guy with the 300mm L glass

).

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:10 pm

JamesShort wrote:

Just wondering, does anyone know all the people who were taking pictures? I saw at least 3 people out there with half decent DSLRs with some nice glass (guy with the 300mm L glass

).

I think Maria Winslow knows the guy with the OMG lens.

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:11 pm

I agree about no caps on entry. If people can't plan based on the whether or not they're permitted to run, they won't make concrete plans to show up and attendance suffers. Let's keep a few things in mind why there were so many walk-ups:

-It's Sanford, the closest venue to the Triangle which is more enticing for novices. We've usually started in L-Burg IIRC.
-It's the first event of the year and everyone wants to get out and play
-We seem to be publicly promoting the club and sport more this year, which is great!
-Good weather

As far as the tunes, I didn't have any issue with it and thought it was cool.

I think we're all in agreement that an overlap more than 25 seconds really can start to add up. When we wrapped up the Zoombies event (only 80 cars albeit) at 2pm last year, it was purely based on the launch interval and the fact that we didn't do the often typical pin cone at the start. It's just something to keep in mind for the bigger events this year like Jimmy V or the next Sanford race.

I thought about all the cars parked next to grid, which also blocked the timer. I'm totally guilty of this, but I think the solution next time is to just put another wall of cones there, similar to the one near the first Pandora box at the start. Easy solution.

Just a few of my humble opinions. :wink:

I had a great time and I'm just glad it's auto-x season finally. Lastly, I'm really looking forward to seeing a several of you that have been doing this for a couple of seasons continue to drop time and dial things in nicely.

A long day at the autocross with great weather trumps a great day at work ten times out of ten. Big thanks again to the folks that took time off Saturday to make this a success as well as the other newly appointed officers that did a great job with their roles to keep the gears turning.

-Matt

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:52 pm

I wasn't a fan of the course yesterday (not the first time that has happened either), I just flat had the wrong setup on the car but still had at good time. I did like the fact that we used VERY little of the skinny taxiway.

As far as entrants, this was the largest non-ncac event we have had in my memory. We had 150 at the Jimmy V in 06 and I know we turned folks away on that day. So dont beat yourselves up over getting overwhelmed. 158 entrants is a BIG event (for us)

I'm going to go out and touch the 3rd rail here, wireless timer. They have come a long way and would help solve problems at all our sites.

EDIT:

Holy shit, didn't realized I finished 2nd in class, maybe it wasn't that bad :oops:

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

I also don't think we should have entry caps, unless it's getting up to 200 people regularly or something. It would be nice if people pre-registered, though, so we know what to expect.

And my other thought is, if we're running all at once, in 4 separate run groups, and nobody has run/work conflicts, why do we need a B line? Just put everybody in one line and go down the line, or use two lines if necessary due to limited space and go down both lines, then back to the start of the first line. Having one line would also give people more space to drive up to the start on that narrow taxiway. The people who are scared of parking on grass were making it really tight and cluttered there.

About parking in the grass - Liz and I may have started that, along with a few other people who were in charge of running things. If I'm chairing the event, I usually like to park next to the bus and be available. But if that's going to cause a problem, go ahead and ban everybody from parking near grid/bus. Whatever makes it easy for grid workers to maintain control.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:40 pm

Kevin Allen wrote:

I also don't think we should have entry caps, unless it's getting up to 200 people regularly or something. It would be nice if people pre-registered, though, so we know what to expect.
^this^ Even a 120 pre-registration cap may not have prevented 158 people from showing up.

Kevin Allen wrote:

And my other thought is, if we're running all at once, in 4 separate run groups, and nobody has run/work conflicts, why do we need a B line?

2 Driver cars, but you could have a B line just for them.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:45 pm

Ryan Holton wrote:

2 Driver cars, but you could have a B line just for them.

I think the 2 driver cars could be at the front of the line in special grid area, thus it keeps from have two "separate" lines. - AB

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:47 pm

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Ryan Holton wrote:

2 Driver cars, but you could have a B line just for them.

I think the 2 driver cars could be at the front of the line in special grid area, thus it keeps from have two "separate" lines. - AB

I was just getting ready to echo this. That sounds like the best idea and keeps the grid worker from scrambling to get two driver cars through in time.

JohnByers · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:02 pm

Great day for auto x. I was happy with how I ran, considering two things.

1) Considering I'm crazy enough to drive to all the events from Wilmington, I left wilmington at 5 am, drew the two/four work/run and ran my last run @ 645. I had almost forgot the course by the time I ran :lol:

2) The number of people at the event was a great thing for the club. I personally believe this was a good problem to have!

Ps: the music didn't bother me

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:15 pm

JohnByers wrote:

Ps: the music didn't bother me

Well it bothered me. I mean, who in the hell has the Spice Girls on their iPod with Old Skool Motley Crue and Metallica? :lol:

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:18 pm

At least it drowned out that <ying ying ying ying ying ying ying> from that red CRX that was out there

.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:21 pm

JamesShort wrote:

At least it drowned out that <ying ying ying ying ying ying ying> from that red CRX that was out there

.

I dare say my STS CRX is one of the quieter ones you will find. I just can't put up with that loud ass ricer sound in my advanced years :stick:

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